Masterplan for auto zone
Dubai: A master plan of the Dh2 billion ($544.5 million) Dubai Auto Zone (DAZ) will be ready by the third quarter of 2006, following which the plots will be allocated to those registered in the zone.

The zone work is due to be completed by the end of 2007.
Jafza & Business Parks Management has announced that DAZ will be the future primary marketplace for the auto industry. Located in Ruwaya on the Dubai Bypass Road, DAZ aims to satisfy the region's growing demand for auto businesses, said a spokesman for the company.

Armada launches Ajman complex
Ajman: The UAE's Armada Group has awarded a Dh5.15-million ($1.5 million) contract to the Bin Haider Contracting Group for the construction of its Dh8-million residential-cum-commercial complex at Al Nuaimi district in Ajman.
Construction of the project, which will have nine floors, begins this month (March) and is expected to be completed in 12 months.
“We have also completed two major projects in recent months in the UAE,” said Armada Group chairman Mohamad Rahif Hakmi.
The Bin Haider Group has already successfully completed a Dh7 million warehousing project at Sharjah industrial zone 17 in a record time of eight months for Armada Group. The project, which consists of 10 warehouses, was built on a total area of 40,000 sq ft. The warehouses provide ample space for storage, for the local manufacturing units and service industries.
The structure, constructed on concrete foundations and steel structures, which were provided by the Saudi Al Zamil Steel Company, has insulated aluminium roofing.
The other project is a Dh6 million labour camp project at Al Sagaa area in Sharjah.

Twin towers for Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah: RAK Properties has announced the launch of its first project – the Julfar Towers, a residential and commercial development being built in the centre of Ras Al Khaimah.
The Julfar Towers consists of two 40-storey towers, one residential which has 349 apartments and the other, an office tower which has 468 offices built over a three-level podium that provides retail, food outlets and central facilities.
The residential tower provides flats varying from studios up to four-bedroom deluxe apartments, and will also include a limited number of exclusive duplexes. The office tower features state-of-the-art units in various sizes. In addition, residents of both towers will benefit from an advanced business centre and a parking area that can cater for approximately 1,500 cars. A fitness centre and kindergarten will also be established.

Al Fajer launches two towers
Dubai: The Dubai-based Al Fajer Properties, a member of Al Fajer Enterprises, has announced the development of two freehold commercial towers-Jumeirah Business Center (JBC) 3 and 4 at a cost of Dh490 million ($133.4 million).
The announcement follows barely two months after the launch of its Jumeirah Business Center 1 and 2 and the subsequent sell out of the properties in record time.
JBC – which offering spectacular views of Jumeirah Lakes and Jumeirah Islands, and situated within Dubai's emerging district consisting of over 250 residential buildings –  is poised to become the commercial landmark of New Dubai

Maritime City work in progress
Dubai: Dubai Maritime City has reported significant progress in the construction of its new breakwaters, which will provide the project and the adjacent Dubai DryDocks with new access channels and harbour basins.
The breakwaters project, which commenced in late April 2003, is now 90 per cent complete and is on schedule for the final deadline of April 2006.
In addition, 92 per cent of the rockworks have been finished and the existing 25-year-old breakwater has been removed, using a mixture of demolished and new rock material to create the new breakwater structures.
“We are pleased with the significant progress that has been made on the project and we are confident that we are able to meet the April 2006 deadline,” said Amer Ali, project manager of Dubai Maritime City. “With the breakwater and rockworks construction having begun nearly two years ago, the formation of the peninsula is now clearly visible.”
When completed, Dubai Maritime City will serve as the world’s most comprehensive maritime complex located on a 216-hectare man-made peninsula between Port Rashid and the Dubai Dry Docks, and surrounded by the waters of the Arabian Gulf.

BOT specialist set up
Kuwait: Al Qudra Holding and the Kharafi Group of Kuwait, represented by one of its subsidiaries, Utilities Development Company Holdings (UDCH) have launched a joint venture to manage and develop build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects.
The establishment of Emirates Utilities Company Holdings (EUCH) was announced recently at a press conference at the Beach Rotana, Abu Dhabi jointly by Salah Salem bin Omair Al Shamsi, chairman of Al Qudra Holding and Marzook Al Kharafi, vice president of Kharafi Group.
EUCH will handle infrastructure, utilities management, industrial and environmental projects.

Float glass plant for Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi: Emirates Float Glass (EFG) recently held the ground-breaking ceremony of its new state-of-the-art production plant, at its 320,000 sq m plot in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD). Being constructed at a cost of $193 million, the plant will have an annual capacity in excess of 160,000 tonnes of architectural, automotive, pyrolytic, coated and special products. The design engineering has been completed by the turnkey contractor for the project – Ianua of Italy and licensor PPG Industries, US. 
The 600-tonnes-per-day manufacturing facility will incorporate state-of-the-art technology features, leveraging the advancement of glass science and technical developments by PPG Industries worldwide.

Palmon to sell SieMatic kitchens
Dubai: The UAE's Palmon Group has entered into a product 'distributorship agreement' with German kitchen manufacturer SieMatic to market and distribute its range of quality kitchens in the region.
'The opening of the new showroom in the Jebel Ali Free Zone will signify a decisive aspect of our long-term approach to becoming a household name throughout the UAE and to cater to an emerging and fast growing market in the UAE,' said Palmon Group chairman M M Lahori.
SieMatic, a well-known brand  worldwide in the kitchen sector, is produced in Germany and sold into 55 countries It offers state-of-the-art solutions with an enormous variety of possibilities that extend far beyond the limits of conventional kitchen planning.

Jyoti in powering role
Dubai: Gulf Jyoti International, a venture between Gulf Investment Corporation of Kuwait, and Jyoti Structures of India, a provider of turnkey solutions in power transmission, will be launching a Dh51.4 million ($14 million) transmission tower plant in Dubai.
The new facility will be located in the Dubai Investments Park and will have the latest technology and equipment that will enable the plant to achieve a production capacity of 33,000 tonnes per year on a two-shift basis.

Drake & Scull in cool Dafz deal
Dubai: Drake & Scull International (DSI) has announced the successful delivery of a district cooling project at Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZ), as well as the completion of its MEP (mechanical electrical and plumbing) project in a two-block office building, also located in the free zone.
Earlier, DSI was appointed main contractor to undertake the enhancement of DAFZ's existing central cooling plant and provide a new central water storage facility to be utilised for domestic water and fire-fighting requirements as well as irrigation.